HÀ NỘI – Shares on the HCM Stock Exchange gained ground after a slight decrease in morning trade, following the recovery of several large-cap stocks, while continued foreign selling kept weighing on the market.

The benchmark VN-Index, the measure of 311 stocks in the southern bourse, closed marginally unchanged at 659.7 points. It was down 1.1 per cent in the previous session.

On the smaller exchange in Hà Nội, the HNX-Index inched up 0.2 per cent to end yesterday at 83.9 points. The Index lost 1.2 per cent in the last two trades.

The market breadth was rather neutral with 209 stocks declining out of a total 690 codes and 199 advancing.

Some large-cap stocks rebounded in afternoon trade, which rescued the market from another fall.

Dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), the biggest listed stock with a market value of US$9.4 billion, recouped 2.6 per cent yesterday after losing a cumulative 4 per cent in the two previous settlements, finishing the trade at VNĐ144,900 ($6.50) per share.

However, the shares continued to top the foreign net sells by value yesterday at VNĐ65 billion ($3 million). On Monday, VNĐ100 billion worth of VNM shares were net sold by foreign investors.

On the other end of the spectrum, more than half of the top 10 stocks lost value, including the four biggest banks - Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG) and Military Bank (MBB), as well as the private equity Masan Group (MSN) and real estate developer VinGroup (VIC).

The foreign sector remained net sellers on the HCM City’s exchange with a net sell value of over VNĐ117 billion, lifting total net sell value to more than VNĐ1.4 trillion in the last 10 consecutive sessions.